Song To Say Goodbye
by Alexsai
Summary: This is how you shoot a gun. This is how dodge a bullet. This is how you interrogate. This is how you torture. This is how you murder. This is how you refrain from feeling guilty about murder. This is how you lie. This is how you cheat. This is how you steal. And that, young one, that is how you survive. This is life. It's not the best life, but it's your life.
1. Chapter 1

_Naruto should've seen this coming the moment Sasuke-Ice Prince-Uchiha approached him and asked for his friendship. The blonde should've gone with his gut feeling, said no, and walked away._

_But he didn't,because he foolishly hoped that maybe, just maybe..._

_He didn't know, and he didn't see it coming. So when his "friends" cornered him and beat him up, Naruto had the gall to be shocked. He looked them in the eyes, they were all disgusted. Sakura, Ino-even the sweet and shy Hinata- who wasn't so sweet after all. They were all disgusted. He was disgusted with himself, he was better than this._

_Then he looked at Sasuke. Artificial cerulean met obsidian and what Naruto saw made him want to rage at his own stupidity. Sasuke's eyes were cold and uncaring, the complete opposite of what Naruto had been seeing in those pools for the past year. This wasn't the Sasuke he grew to know, this wasn't the boy who he began to trust. This definitely wasn't the Sasuke he had pictured himself coming to be really good friends with somewhere in the future-_

_But it was._

_Or was it that the Sasuke Naruto thought he'd known simply didn't exist to begin with. Naruto really shouldn't have been surprised, fakeness was something Naruto should have been too familiar with. When Sasuke went on about how he could never care about a "parentless street rat" Naruto didn't listen. He saw the brunettes' mouth moving but the words never reached him. _

_It was a coping mechanism; whenever the insults began, Naruto disappeared into the darkest corners of his mind._

_However, looking at each face, Naruto grew angry at himself. He really wanted to rage but he'd be damned if he gave them the satisfaction. He was better than that; he'd been through worse betrayals._

_So then why did it fucking hurt so goddamn much? _

"_**Because I stupidly allowed myself to hope, it hurts to have had and lost, than to never have had at all."**__ Naruto thought bitterly __**"I should've known better. Someone like me could never be accepted like that…"**_

_Because people like him were meant to be alone._

_People like him aren't supposed to have friends, lovers, family..._

_Slowly, as if on auto-pilot, Naruto stood, gathered his school bag and broken glasses(it was time for a new pair anyway) and turned to walk away. He was back to having nothing- wait._

_The blond went back and stood in front of Sasuke. He reached into the collar of his shirt wrapping long skeletal fingers around a stone necklace, and yanked hard. The string popped, and Naruto allowed the necklace to leave his grasp, and fall to the floor. He turned and left the school building without a glance back._

_Over the next few days Naruto grew as empty as he'd been before he'd met Sasuke. All of his previous hope of a life with friends were gone, leaving a gaping hole in its wake. His betrayal and anger left him sooner than he'd expected, and the more he began to grasp how truly alone he was the bigger the hole grew. For Naruto, it was the worst feeling, but it was familiar, and even worse, he'd accepted his fate._

_Summer vacation came about two weeks after that incident, but to Naruto time had passed so quickly he hadn't even noticed. The emptiness was still there; if anything the emptiness spread. It grew and dominated all of his other emotions completely smothering Naruto. Until nothing else remained. It was back to square one, and once again Naruto was simply existing, surviving. Naruto was himself._

U*Z*U*M*A*K*I*N*A*R*U*T*O

Uchiha Sasuke sat at the back of the library completely ignoring Sakura, Karin, and Ino. The three were arguing about something that Sasuke didn't, and never would care about.

"Sasuke, aren't you paying attention? I said Konoha High and Sunagakure High school are merging together because of their budget cuts and low funding!" Sakura paused to breathe.

"Which means we'll have more competition over who gets Sasuke…" Ino muttered, and Karin nodded her head in agreement.

"Though there really is no competition, everybody knows that Sasuke will choose me, he's just playing shy." Karin gloated with a grin. That was Sasuke's queue to tune out their argument and look out the window once more.

From what Sasuke had heard, Sunagakure High School's academic scores were on par with Konoha High, even though the school resided in the lower classed parts of the Leaf Village. But why merge two schools in the middle of the school year. Wouldn't it be better to do it next year?

The shrill ring of the first bell drew Sasuke out of his musings, and he collected his belongings before leaving the school's library and onto his next class.

"…new schools construction is complete, so we'll be moving in a week…" Sakura began talking again on the way out of the library and on to the next class. Neji and Shikamaru joined them in the hallway, and they all met up with Kiba, Choji, and Shino in Trigonometry. Sakura went to spread the information of the transfer.

Lunch came sooner than Sasuke would have liked, though the cafeteria was overcrowded as usual. It was one of the reasons why Sasuke enjoyed sitting on the schools roof during lunch.

"I kinda got a weird feeling about Konoha merging with another school." Kibas voice rung loud and clear, and the rest of the group turned their attention to him.

"What do you mean Kiba?" Hinata asked and the rest watched to bay with an expecting curiosity.

"I don't know…I just got a weird feeling…."Though Kiba was confused, he tried to hide it, but Sasuke could tell by the look in the boys eyes.

"Maybe you're just hitting puberty, about time too." Ino snickered behind her hand, effectively lightening the mood. Sasuke tuned out their arguments again.

Sasuke looked up at the clouds. He had noticed that each day they were growing darker. A storm was coming, and it would be here soon. Taking a deep breath, he let the smell of civilization dominate his senses. Sasuke leant against the gate that stopped him from falling to his death and closed his eyes. It was wishful thinking but he wanted this moment to last for forever, surrounded by friends and acquaintances…

The house was empty. No surprise there.

Sasuke's parents were on a business trip.

Again

Itachi wouldn't be home for a few more hours, and so like most days Sasuke found himself home alon-

"Mrow…" correction, Sasuke found himself stuck with the family pet Susano. Susano was a round black cat with large green eyes, and with slight hesitation Sasuke bent down to pet the animal, which was a rare sight to see. Susano hated Sasuke and preferred to hang around Itachi-like everybody else. Normally the thing wouldn't go within a five-foot radius of Sasuke, hissing and scratching at the raven when he got too close. So why was it approaching him now?

A loud clap of thunder made Susano jump at Sasuke who caught her with ease. Of course. Susano hated storms more than she hated Sasuke, and Itachi wasn't home, so why not use the second best thing for comfort.

When he got to his room Sasuke flopped down onto his bed, absently petting Susano who quickly fell asleep. Sasuke stared out of his window at the pouring rain, and then he closed his eyes and fell asleep as well.

U*C*H*I*H*A*S*A*S*U*K*E

Shikamaru was fast asleep on top of a hill when Neji and Choji found him. This wasn't new sight for Neji, and he had to wonder if Shikamaru was stupid enough to think that a random stranger wouldn't walk up to him and do something, or if the boy was just too lazy to care. Knowing Shikamaru it was most likely the latter.

"Shikamaru don't you know better than to fall asleep outside? What if somebody tried to kill you?"Neji nagged at the sleeping boy who didn't even move. This infuriated Neji all the more.

"You're too loud…"was the only reply Neji got. Shikamaru slowly cracked his eyes open but didn't spare Neji a glance.

Neji opened his mouth to tell the laggard off, when something strange moved in his peripheral vision. Normally the brunette would have ignored it for when he looked, it was only a dog. A huge ass fucking dog at that; it stood at maybe three to four feet tall and could have easily been a head or two taller than Neji if it stood on its hind legs. Its short fur was a reddish brown color and it paws could fit in both of Choji's hands.

"That's a really big dog…"Choji muttered through his mouthful of chips sitting next to Shikamaru who was sitting up as well. Running with the dog was a person at maybe 5'6",5'7". Judging by the small, slender frame Neji guessed the person was a girl, no older than a teenager. She wore a teal and black striped hoodie. It didn't help that her hood was up and covering her face, though Neji caught a small glimpse of white hair and teal glasses.

"Those two come here for an hour every day. The boy looks really familiar but I can't remember where I've seen him…It's really annoying."Shikamaru grumbled a troublesome under his breath.

"Boy?"Neji asked

"Yea…sometimes he sits down by the lake and reads sometimes I find him up here sleeping and there are times when he's here with another boy…a redhead I think." Shikamaru flopped back down on the grass and closed his eyes.

"Aren't we interested in a certain somebody?" Neji gave Shikamaru a knowing smirk.

"His face keeps nagging at the back of my mind; I just can't remember where I've seen him, it's rather annoying." Shikamaeu yawned and flopped back down onto the grass, closing his eyes again.

Neji considered this for a moment; he had never seen a person with white hair in Konoha. Not even that Uzumaki loser. Speaking of Uzumaki, whatever happened to the boy? He disappeared after junior high school, and Neji was in his junior year in high school. It had seemed like such a long time ago, though Neji would probably never see him again.

H*Y*U*U*G*A*N*E*J*I

_**a/n: SoI finally got my first chapter out(I'm really nervous about it). Reviews (and flames) are accepted with an open mind, so please don't hesitate to give me your opinions... I'll be waiting with crossed fingers...**_  
><em><strong> -Until then Alexsai <strong>_


	2. Chapter 2

The new school was probably thrice the size of Konoha High, but Sakura was not intimidated by the size one bit. Green eyes searched the crowded school yard for a familiar head of black spiky hair, but failed miserably, for there were too many unfamiliar faces.

Moments later, she did spot four familiar heads together in the distance. There was the long brown hair that belonged to Neji, a ponytail resembling the leaves of a pineapple, which could only be Shikamaru's, the red hair of Karin and the white hair of Suigetsu. It wasn't until Sakura had caught up with the group, and grabbed the redhead, that she realized her mistake. The redhead whipped her head around (Sakura wondered if she had snapped her neck in the process of doing so), and Sakura instantly let go.

"Sorry," Sakura apologized" I thought you were somebody else." Sakura quickly tried to fix her error, but to no avail.

"Bitch, if you ever touch me again I'll break your grubby fucking paws in half!" Some of the surrounding students laughed.

The person Sakura thought to be Neji was actually a girl, whose eyes were dark, instead of the eerie silver that only a Hyuuga could possess. The one with the ponytail was a boy Sakura had never seen before, and the white haired one completely ignored her. These weren't Konoha High students.

"Fucking weird ass!" Sneered the boy who Sakura had mistaken for Shikamaru. "Who the hell has pink hair anyways? It's like acid to my eyes?"

"Mommy must not be giving her enough much attention." By now, Sakura's face had turned red with a mixture of embarrassment and rage. "Or maybe she's one of those wannabe American kids."

In the distance Sakura heard the unmistakable voice of Rock Lee calling her name and in that moment Sakura had never been so relieved to see the horrendous eyebrows and ugly bowl cut of her fellow classmate. With one last glare sent towards the group before her Sakura made her way over to Lee.

"Lee, have you seen the others?" Sakura asked hoping that she didn't have to spend any time longer than necessary with Lee, while making a hasty getaway from the four students that insulted and humiliated her. It was no secret that Rock Lee had a crush on Sakura, and rather than being flattered Sakura found that this disgusted her more than that loser Sasuke dated before they came to high school.

"Yes. Ino has sent me to look for you." Lee's voice was so loud, he might as well have yelled at the top of his lungs, and Sakura tried her best not to cringe at the sound.  
>*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*<p>

Ino was fixing her already perfect hair when Sakura and Lee had met her on the rooftop of the school building. Sakura was a bit annoyed that the Ino had found Sasuke first, because if Ino could find Sasuke so quickly than what did that say about Sakura's devotion to him? Sakura prided herself on being a Sasuke expert, unfortunately so did Ino and Karin. Sasuke stood as far away from the group as humanly possible, adorning his usual mask of indifference. Sasuke seemed to always be in a sour mood, and Sakura approached him in hopes of lightening the atmosphere around him.

"Good morning Sasuke." Sakura began, and Sasuke gave her a quick glance before his eyes returned to the crowded school yard below.

"Hn…" Sakura was used to these monosyllabic responses, and so instead of trying to further a one-sided conversation Sakura simply joined Sasuke at the edge of the roof. Leaning against the railing, Sakura stared at the crowd of students below as well. There were some faces that she recognized from Konoha High School, the others she assumed were from Suna High. Ino and Karin soon joined Sakura at the railing; they too stared at the students.

"Well at least the Sunagakure High School boys are attractive…" Karin stared hard at crowd "…really hot."

Sakura rolled her eyes at this; whatever happened to Karin's loyalty to Sasuke. Or could it be that Karin was beginning to see that Sasuke would never be hers? A small grin stretched Sakura's lips at this thought, and Sakura guesses that maybe she could tolerate these Sunagakure students after all.

The shrill ring of the first bell resonated through the school grounds, signaling the beginning of the first class, and Sakura pushed herself off of the railing with a sigh, following Sasuke to the door that lead into the school.

H*A*R*U*N*O*S*A*K*U*R*A

Neji was annoyed. Because not only was he stuck in a class full of complete strangers-except for Shikamaru who was sleeping in the seat to his right -the teacher was nowhere to be found. The Hyuuga had the misfortune of having an advanced English class with Hatake Kakashi, a teacher who was notorious for his habitual lateness.

Taking a good look at each of the students, Neji noted that a few of his classmates reminded him of criminals and delinquents rather than teenagers. One boy had silver hair, a foul mouth, and an ear full of piercings. He sat talking to a heavily tattooed boy on his right about a religion that, not only had Neji never heard of, but highly doubted existed.

On Neji's left sat a redhead who was unnaturally still, and if not for his fingers tapping at the desk Neji would have mistaken the boy for a statue.

Half an hour later Kakashi had the nerve to waltz into the classroom, making up an excuse about an old lady, and "Getting lost on the road of life!"

"And now that that's out of the way…I'm Hatake Kakashi, I'll be your English instructor for the remainder of the year." Kakashi picked up a folder that Neji hadn't noticed before and began to call out names."Hyuuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru, Sabaku Sasori, Yamamoto Himeiko, Sabaku Gaara, Tsuna Hana…" For each name that was called the respective student gave a "Here!"

Neji found that his eye could not stop twitching.

H*Y*U*U*G*A*N*E*J*I

Waking up tired, Naruto decided, was not a good start to his day, and he'd wanted nothing more than to just crawl back under the covers and go to sleep.

Alas, with a heavy sigh, Naruto found the will to swing his legs over the edge of his bed, and sat up least he give into temptation and ended up missing his first day back to school. He wiped a slim hand over his face in a futile attempt to wipe the sleep away, and just as he was about to stand up, two slender arms wrapped themselves around Naruto's shoulders. A dark haired head popped out from underneath the comforter, followed by another, and Naruto's sleep fogged brain struggled to remember the women's names.

Keiko and Haruhi? No, it started with an M…Miku…Meiko! Meiko and Haruna! That's it.

Leaving so soon?" The shorter woman, Haruna, whined. Her hands moved over Naruto's torso and down to his stomach.

"Yeah, school starts in an hour, sorry ladies." Naruto wasn't sorry at all, and Haruna knew this but kept her mouth shut. Instead she and Meiko chose to stare longingly at Naruto's naked back. Lust clouded the women's judgment as it did the night before, and all thoughts of imprisonment for statuary rape (no matter how consensual) flew out the window once more.

"Then how about one more round before you leave?" Naruto inwardly sighed at this, deciding to entertain his guest before he officially dumped them, for they were only one night stands. With an inviting look over his shoulder at Meiko, he left the left the room and went down the hall to the bathroom.

The new school campus was closer to Naruto's home than he'd originally thought, though he was still half an hour late for his first class when he arrived. He thanked the secretary in the office when she gave him his class schedule, and then set off to find his first class of the day. Giving his schedule a once over Naruto was disappointed to see that he still had the same classes with the exception of the added class, art, with Yuhi Kurenai …whoever that was.

"How nice of you to join us." Naruto did not miss the sarcasm directed towards him when he'd entered his first class, and he looked at the name on his schedule, Hatake Kakashi. He looked back up at the teacher expectantly, his English instructor was…interesting, for lack of a better word, with light grey hair that seemed to defy gravity, though it leaned to one side. A very high turtleneck sweater not only effectively hid his neck, but the lower half of his face as well. Naruto found this strange, but rather than commenting on it, he found his way to an empty seat without saying a word.

By the time his lunch break finally rolled around, Naruto just wanted to go home and sleep. From his spot at the cafeteria entrance, he spotted a table with a group of familiar Suna students and laggardly made his way towards them, heavily plopping down on an empty chair and leaned his head on the shoulder of the boy next to him.

"Hello Naruto." The taller boy, Haku, greeted Naruto with a pretty smile, on his pretty face. Brown eyes surrounded by long dark lashes twinkled at the sight of his shorter friend. Oh yes, Naruto thought, Haku was pretty indeed. With a small smile, Naruto began to play with a loose lock of Haku's long brown hair, something both boys enjoyed, but would never admit.

"Hello Haku, and how is your day going thus far. Did you make any new friends? See anybody of interest? " Naruto asked, giving the boy a devious grin. Haku gave him an almost hungry look, and Naruto returned it without hesitation.

"I did actually, and he was so attractive. You might have met him before…" Haku spoke off-handedly, as if discussing the weather, but the grin on his face said otherwise. Naruto sat up and moved closer to Haku until their lips lightly brushed each other when he spoke.

"Really now and who, pray tell, might this attractive person be?" Naruto's grin grew, at the slight coloring of Haku's cheeks.

"He's about average height, light hair light eyes." Haku was becoming flustered, something both boys were all too aware of. Taking it further, Naruto wrapped one arm around Haku's waist, and let his other hand slowly crawl up the older boy's thigh.

"Well maybe we could all get together and…" Naruto began whispering things in Haku's ear that would put a porn star to shame, while his hand slid dangerously close to the boy's crotch.

Haku's face turned red, it spread to his ears and neck until he resembled a tomato. Embarrassed he hissed an insult at Naruto, who laughed and pecked the taller of the two on the lips.

U*Z*U*M*A*K*I*N*A*R*U*T*O

Sasuke sat in his psychology class staring out of the window, ignoring both the teacher and the incoming students. The last four classes had passed in an uneventful manner. Karin came in and took the seat in front of Sasuke; Sakura sat down next to him. Sasuke suspected that he and Sakura had the same exact schedule. This was not impossible, for Sakura worked with the head master, Tsunade, who had the tedious task of assigning each and every student their classes based on their academic averages.

When the window no longer held his interest, Sasuke took the time to scan the room, noting that majority of the class' population was made up of Suna High students. Dark eyes glanced at each face, and Sasuke noticed Neji Hyuuga on the other side of the room sitting at the very front, at a paired desk closest to the classroom exit. Neji's eyes met Sasuke's for a brief moment, and they each traded a quick nod of acknowledgement; however, it wasn't Neji that caught Sasuke's attention but the boy sitting next to Neji. The boy seemed so familiar (though rather strange in Sasuke's opinion), and it was anybody's guess as to where Sasuke had seen such a person.

Sasuke would have remembered somebody with a face like that, and such bright hair was hard to miss. When he turned around to talk to a boy in the desk behind him, Sasuke saw that the boy's eyes were the kind that one only saw on a Hyuuga, the color so light, it was nearly nonexistent. Three scars, resembling whiskers, stood out on each pale cheek, and a name hung off the tip of Sasuke's tongue while remaining just out of reach. The tiniest flash drew Sasuke's eyes to the silver hoop hanging from the boy's septum, and more silver rings sat at the top of the blonde's (was his hair blonde or white?) ear. The blonde had a pale peach complexion, and aside from the thin scars on his cheeks the only other imperfections on the boys face were the dark purple circles under his eyes.

Said eyes stared at the redhead sitting in the seat behind him through square, teal thick rimmed glasses, his thin lips spread into a flirtatious-though rather devious- grin. Sasuke recognized that look as the ones that Sakura would give him right before she would ask him on a date, thinking that it made her seem more desirable. Such a look certainly added to this boy's appeal.

Sasuke felt as if he had seen that grin more times than he could count, but the person who he'd seen such a look on was so different from the one Sasuke was staring at now. Who did Sasuke know with blonde hair and grey eyes? He had only met two boys with blonde hair, and both had blue eyes, not grey. There was Deidara, Itachi's friend, and-

"Uzumaki Naruto?"Sasuke looked away when the same name he was about to utter in the privacy of his mind, was spoken aloud. From next to him Sakura perked up, as did Karin. Sasuke's eyes searched the classroom for the familiar ugly shade of cornflower yellow hair, and tanned skin that came with such a name. He came up empty. For a few short moments, the class stilled, nobody said a word.

"Uzumaki, would you please pass out these papers?" The teacher placed a rather large, and heavy looking pile of papers on the corner of his desk, and Sasuke watched in growing shock, as the boy he'd been staring at stood up, walked to the front of the classroom to collect the pile, and proceeded to hand them out.

But there was no way…

U*C*H*I*H*A*S*A*S*U*K*E

Karin nearly squealed in excitement from her place in the classroom doorway, when she saw that she had the same class as Sasuke. She could've run over, sat on Sasuke's desk, and set her plan to win Sasuke over in motion. She could have…if that bitch Sakura wasn't already doing it.

Karin fumed, and her face turned as red as her hair. Just who did Sakura think she was, talking to Sasuke as if they were best friends? Sasuke would never like Sakura, especially not with a forehead like that. That slobbering she-man beast was-

"Are you going to stand here and block the _entire_ doorway, or are you actually going to squeeze into the classroom so that the rest of us can get on with our day as well?" Karin's head turned so fast that she heard felt (and heard) her neck crack.

"Wanna say that to my face-!" Karin's voice died in her throat as her eyes beheld the Adonis like creature standing behind her. An unfamiliar boy (he had to be from Suna) stood staring at her, his face the epitome of boredom. Next to him stood a taller boy, who was equally attractive, but more effeminate in appearance. The taller nudged the shorter and hissed a "Be nice Naruto!", before turning to Karin with a dazzling smile.

"If you would kindly excuse us miss, we'd like to enter the classroom before the late bell rings." The shorter boy, Naruto, rolled his eyes as Karin stepped aside to allow the boys into the classroom.

"Such a gentleman you are Haku." Naruto muttered as the two walked past Karin and into the classroom, Haku sending a polite "Thank you" to Karin on the way.

Karin doesn't think twice about the name.

U*Z*U*M*A*K*I*K*A*R*I*N

This is the first lesson.

In a soundproof room is a man and a small boy. Neither are dead, but they do not live, they only exist. The man is as tall as the boy is small, much too small for his age. Overhead, a light dims and brightens every now and again, and the light bounces off of the pale, almost white hair of the small boy, whose equally pale eyes watch the tall man with rapt attention.

The man, his name is Madara, is a highly intelligent man, as expected from those born from the Uchiha bloodline. His hair is darker than the blackest shadow, as are his eyes; but, in this moment, the boy remembers them as being red. Like all men born from the Uchiha line, Madara is handsome to a fault, a dangerous trait for a dangerous man. Everything about Madara defines power. From the tone of his voice, to the way he carries himself, and only a fool, would do something as dangerous a challenge a man like Madara.

The boy is young, but he is neither a fool nor naive. Madara knows this, and there are some things that he lets this small boy get away with. Many a stressful day lays ahead for both of the rooms occupants, but first, the boy must prove himself.

"This," Madara says, and though his voice takes on a lazy drawl, it commands attention. Nearly colorless eyes watch Madara's every move, as the man picks up an SD40 VE, loads it, and aims at a paper bulls-eye target on the other side of the room, "is how you shoot a gun."

The boy commits everything to memory, the way muscles is Madara's arm tense before he pulls the trigger, and the barely noticeable jerk his hand gives when the bullet is shot. The boy watches the bullet soar through the air, sees the air slightly distorting around the bullet as it moves, before finally hitting the center of the target. It is akin to that of watching things move in slow motion, and the boy watches over and over as each bullet seems to float towards their target, rather than zoom to it. This happens until the gun runs out of ammo, and Madara reloads it.

"And this," Madara aims the gun at the boy's forehead. The boy shows no fear. "is how you dodge a bullet." There is no time to think, yet alone time to speak, to object. There is only time to move.

* * *

><p>An: I am really sorry for the super late update. Like, this meager apology just isn't enough but it's the best I can give. To be honest i forgot about this story, as I got caught up with another fan fiction of mine. Then there was the problem of me not knowing where I was going to go with this story(though I have an idea now) but I will continue with this story. I may be a bit slow with the updates, because it's my senior year in high school and I'm feeling a lot of pressure with trying to get my college applications in before Christmas (though you don't really care about that). I will try to update as quickly as I can however. Please leave a review, I could always use ideas and opinions. Constructive criticism is welcome, as are flames, though I don't recommend sending me any... and we shall meet again in the next chapter.<p> 


End file.
